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Ten women walk along a busy, fluorescent-lit corridor. Undressed from the waist down, they wear big white sheets, knotted over their hips, as they make their way to the "relaxation room", a windowless space, equipped with large sofas and a TV. There they wait, mostly in silence, for their turn to have an abortion.

This is Hope Medical Group for Women, a small abortion clinic in the US city of Shreveport serving an ever-expanding 200-mile radius through rural Louisiana and all the way to Texas, Arkansas and Mississippi.

Many Abortion Restrictions Have No Rigorous Scientific Basis
May 9, 2017, News ReleaseTexas and Kansas Stand Out as the States with the Largest Number of Scientifically Unfounded Restrictions

At least 10 major categories of abortion restrictions are premised on assertions not supported by rigorous scientific evidence, according to a new analysis in the Guttmacher Policy Review. These restrictions include unnecessary regulations on abortion facilities and providers, counseling and waiting period requirements rooted in misinformation, and laws based on false assertions about when fetuses can feel pain.

The authors, Guttmacher Institute experts Rachel Benson Gold and Elizabeth Nash, document that over half of U.S. women of reproductive age live in states where abortion restrictions are in effect that have either moderate or major conflicts with the science. The worst offenders are Kansas and Texas (with laws in effect in eight out of the 10 categories) and Louisiana, Oklahoma and South Dakota (seven such laws each). A table with information for all states is included in the full analysis.